


Times Have Changed (Minecraft Hostile Mobs x Reader)

by Conquest_Queen



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: 32 loves interests, All characters in this are 18+, Because I love to torture myself, But I'm not writing sex because I'm not comftorable, But hey lots of time to develop the characters, Childhood Trauma, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Healthy Relationships, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I am so attached to these characters, I literally have no idea how to tag this, I really appreciate feedback, I'm sick of toxic shit so here's some good relationships, I've been putting this shit off for like two years, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Multiple Endings, Nonbinary Character, Other, Polygamy, Representation, Romance, Slow Burn, The End (Minecraft), The Nether (Minecraft), The Overworld (Minecraft), This is gonna have so many arcs oh lord, This is my first ever fic on here so forgive me if it's bad, This is really fucking scuffed for a Minecraft fic, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, Trauma, War, bear with me, because I have no clue what I'm doing, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29424030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Conquest_Queen/pseuds/Conquest_Queen
Summary: After the sudden resurgence of mobs, humans now fight to survive as they had to hundreds of years ago. War has broken out between the two groups, laying waste to the land they inhabit. With tensions high, and the mysteries of Hinansho waiting to be discovered again, one human is determined to find out how to stop the war ravaging their homeland, and bring peace to the many factions.
Relationships: Alex (Minecraft) & Reader, Alex/Steve (Minecraft), Blaze (Minecraft)/Reader, Cave Spider (Minecraft)/Reader, Creeper (Minecraft)/Reader, Drowned (Minecraft)/Reader, Elder Guardian (Minecraft)/Reader, Ender Dragon (Minecraft)/Reader, Enderman (Minecraft)/Reader, Endermite (Minecraft)/Reader, Evoker (Minecraft)/Reader, Ghast (Minecraft)/Reader, Guardian (Minecraft)/Reader, Husk (Minecraft)/Reader, Iron Golem (Minecraft)/Reader, Magma Cube (Minecraft)/Reader, Phantom (Minecraft)/Reader, Piglin (Minecraft)/Reader, Piglin Brute (Minecraft)/Reader, Pillager (Minecraft)/Reader, Reader/Slime (Minecraft), Reader/Spider (Minecraft), Reader/The Wither (Minecraft), Reader/Zombie (Minecraft), Shulker (Minecraft)/Reader, Silverfish (Minecraft)/Reader, Skeleton (Minecraft)/Reader, Steve (Minecraft) & Reader, Stray (Minecraft)/Reader, Vex (Minecraft)/Reader, Vindicator (Minecraft)/Reader, Warden (Minecraft)/Reader, Witch (Minecraft)/Reader, Wither Skeleton (Minecraft)/Reader, Zombie Pigman (Minecraft)/Reader
Comments: 12
Kudos: 20





	1. A Quick Note

Hello! Before we start, I just wanted to say a few quick things.

Alright, firstly, I wanna make a list of all of the mobs that will be included in this story, and it will most likely be in the order of when you meet them. I apologize ahead of time if there is a mob you wanted that was not on this list, but I believe I have all of them.

The List (32 mobs in total):

~Iron Golem - Awol (Male)

~Creeper - Zika (Female)

~Zombie - Beverly (Female)

~Skeleton - Kito (Male)

~Spider - Chelsie (Female)

~Cave Spider - Aubrey (Female)

~Silverfish - Roy (Male)

~Warden - Mary (Female)

~Enderman - Tijo (Male)

~Pillager - Jackson (Male)

~Vindicator - Henrietta {Henry} (Agender [they/them pronouns])

~Evoker - Emily (Female)

~Vex - Uziel (Male)

~Witch - Greta (Female)

~Slime - Lilith (Female)

~Husk - Kibiki (Female)

~Phantom - Yurika (Female)

~Stray - Valentine (Male)

~Drowned - James (Male)

~Guardian - Gyto (Male)

~Elder Guardian - Yvonne (Female)

~Zombie Piglin - Hitoshi (Male)

~Magma Cube - Naomi (Female)

~Piglin - Ivan (Male)

~Ghast - Sebastian (Male [Trans])

~Piglin Brute - Renée (Female)

~Blaze - Cinder (Male [Trans])

~Wither Skeleton - Evelyn (Female)

~Wither - Xanthias (Male)

~Endermite - Gracie (Female [Trans])

~Shulker - Aaron (Male [Trans])

~Ender Dragon - Kokon (Male)

As you may have noticed, there are 15 girls on the list, 16 boys, and 1 nonbinary character. In this story, I’m really trying to have a diverse cast in every way, and I’ve done/am doing a lot of research to make accurate characters. I’m not just throwing around the title of ‘trans’ or ‘nonbinary’ simply for kicks, either - these traits are important to things certain characters have gone through, and it’s who they are. This story will also be gender-neutral for the main character, for the sake of the reader (that’s you!). Please do tell me if I make a grammar mistake, or misgender the main character/any other character.

One small heads up, I’m going to try and take a more mature tone with this story. By mature, I don’t mean like smut or anything, I mean I’m probably going to have swearing. I just thought I’d mention this so y’all could have a heads up.

Also, I used to have another account on Quotev where I tried writing this story before, but I was in a bad state of mind when I was making it. I wasn’t focusing the right amount of attention and effort into it, so I’m trying it again here - hopefully better this time. I just thought I should mention this in case some of you have seen this before and thought I was someone else who was stealing it or something.

I hope you enjoy the story I write! Thanks for reading through this long note!


	2. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little blurb of information before we delve into the story. I'll try to get chapter 1 out later today, but damn it's 3 am and I'm exhausted.

Thousands of years ago, long before life existed in Hinansho, there were three dimensions brought about by The Creator, Notch. Each of these worlds was created vastly different from the other, with certain resources hidden in each to connect the realms. Each dimension was given a deity to watch over it; The Elder Guardian - created to protect the vast blue oceans of the first realm, The Wither - created to fight when summoned as a means of empowering others in the second realm, and The Ender Dragon - created to watch over and rule the third realm. Not too long after these pillars of power were created, a new race arose in the first of these worlds.

Deemed “humans” by Notch, they were powerful and resourceful; given the special ability to “craft” that no other race possessed, they quickly adapted to the new world they now lived in. Although the ocean seemed dangerous to these peoples due to the powerful entity residing within, they learned to thrive on the land; farms and mines were scattered around for them to harvest the resources needed to survive.

This land, the first of the dimensions, was deemed The Overworld. This being the calmest and most diverse of the three, it hosted many kinds of creatures, ranging from animals to the mobs that The Creator had placed in as a means of challenging his new race. Humans adapted to this change by creating weapons to fight back against the new aggressive forces plaguing their land, and found that these monsters carried useful resources that could be utilized in a variety of ways. Now, with the seemingly infinite world full of a whole array of biomes, such as Jungles and Deserts, it was only natural that this was the realm humans would begin and thrive in. Although, as society began to grow, humanity seemed to express interest in finding something new - and that was where they turned to the new resources they had acquired over time to access what they so desired.

With a portal made of obsidian, the second of the three dimensions was now accessed. Deemed The Nether by its new human residents, it was found to be the most dangerous of the worlds, with its unnatural terrain and unwelcoming inhabitants. Lava lakes lined the bottom of the entire realm, and more aggressive mobs were seemingly everywhere; this left only the strongest to take up residence in the hellish landscape. Surviving was not impossible, however, as the handful of biomes accessible to the race were enough for them to build homes like they had in The Overworld. Soon, humanity found that they not only had the means to live in The Nether, but they also had the ability to contain some of the mobs. Nether Fortresses were soon erected all around the realm to house the more aggressive mobs, with some of those monsters being harvested in the process, leading to the discovery of new resources that could be useful - just as they had been in The Overworld.

As society continued to grow and thrive in both of these worlds, humans had figured out how to gain access to the third and final dimension, in which they named The End. After constructing a huge temple - deemed a Stronghold - to house the new portal, the curious race set off into the final realm in which they could explore. Arriving with their weapons drawn - fully prepared for The Ender Dragon that they had heard so much about from The Creator - they fought in the barren landscape, and emerged victorious after a long battle; this resulted in the main portal on the island opening up, and allowed for travel between The End and The Overworld. The End, at this time, had no mobs other than The Ender Dragon; Notch had given humans the keys to the portal so that they could enter the world. This meant that the landscape was bare of any life besides the humans inhabiting it. However, with the mostly empty island came another, smaller portal, that led to more islands in the void - each of these islands hosting a strange new fruit for humanity to survive off of. This meant that this new dimension, although void of life, had the means to sustain its new residents.

Resources were soon brought into the final realm in order to start colonizing, and cities were erected on many of the islands; with a new way of travel being created to get from one isle to the other. Now it was clear, with the support of The Creator and all three worlds full of their bountiful resources accessible to humanity, that this was the Golden Era.

Every era, however, must come to a close.

It started in The End. The cities of humans scattered around the realm started to drastically change. Something that can only be described as truly horrifying was taking place in every single metropolis; and it was having severe effects on the humans living within them. These people were sick, afraid, and desperate for help - for an answer as to what was happening to them. They, however, never got that answer. Instead, the humans from The Overworld took the twelve keys from the portal and got rid of them - severing the connection between the dimensions.

Humanity mourned the loss of a world, and the colonies of people that had gone along with it; the incident that occurred now a mystery doomed to remain unsolved. Humans did not have much time to dwell over the fallen, however, as they now had a new, more urgent problem to face; mobs were getting more aggressive in the second dimension. Although there were powerful weapons accessible to combat these creatures, the race decided that they needed to do something more drastic in order to stop the monsters - something that would prove their strength, and intimidate mobs to the point of surrender. In The Nether, humans decided to summon and fight The Wither.

With the base of the demon set out atop a fortress, the heads were placed on soon after. The beast flared to life, destroying everything in its path; annihilating all life that it came across, mob and human. The pillar of power for the hellish landscape was obviously stronger than The Ender Dragon humanity had faced before, and it became clear that the race was not prepared in the slightest for the battle - so they fled. Leaving behind yet another dimension to rot under the control of its new tyrant, the portal was broken in The Overworld; this defeat signifying that these peoples were once again confined to their home realm.

Having lost two worlds that held powerful colonies and resources, humanity fell into a stagnant way of life. The villages that were once strewn across the vast landscape were growing smaller, and they became more condensed towards where life had all started for the race. The threat of mobs was ever-present, and these people, having gone through so much devastation after a period of success, stopped fighting back.

Not all hope was lost for humans, however, as it seemed that Notch was once again on their side, and mobs disappeared entirely from The Overworld. Having suffered such a serious blow, though, humanity was practically forced to start again; which didn’t prove to be a problem for the newly empowered race. The place where they had retreated to became known as The Capital, and it expanded to house the many people who chose to stay and live there. Those who didn’t want to live in this newly formed pillar of hope adventured out to rediscover the lands they had lost, and villages were reformed, slowly but surely, to house the steadily growing race.

With hundreds of years going by, as humanity recovered from their losses, the portals to the other realms remained unrecovered; remnants of the past that were deemed rumors. With the threat of enemies having been gone for so long, they too became nothing more than rumors.

That all changed, however, on May 8th, 20XX.

Mobs returned suddenly, and with a vengeance no one could have predicted. They attacked villages, killing the humans who lived there and laying waste to their homes in the process. Humanity, having been unprepared for these newly returned enemies, quickly started making more weapons and armor. They fought in retaliation, managing to push back the mobs and keep them from destroying any more colonies. Monsters defended with determination humanity had never seen before, and with both sides now at each other’s throats, a ferocious war broke out between the two races.

Possessing an intelligence that they had not owned before, mobs are now a match to humanity’s strength. With no end in sight, and every battle still going strong, we must fight back with more persistence than we had before. We must outsmart the enemy, and take back the land we rightfully own. We must defeat the mobs.


	3. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been working on this monster for like two days. I really tried to start this story off good, but I've never been very good at beginnings. I hope you like the character introductions I've put in this chapter B)

I reel back as I attempt to pull a patch of carrots out of the ground by their greens. A small stumble and I’m on the ground, dirt flinging up around me.

“Son of a-”

I cut myself off and let out a huff before getting back to my feet. Clearing out this garden by myself so Awol can plant new seeds when he returns from his patrol was a really bad idea. I already knew that his garden’s crop tends to be some of the biggest grown in the village, but I didn’t think it was going to be this hard to harvest it alone. Maybe I’m just too used to him helping me pull them out of the ground…

I shake my head and clear my previous thoughts. I’ve got to pack food for Awol and myself before we head out for the march to the frontlines tonight. It’s the least I can do since he’s picking up the rest of the supplies we need to pack on his way home.

My attention shifts back to the vegetable taunting me from its place in the soil. I frown and grasp the greens once again, giving it a good pull and-

“Shoot!” I shout out in alarm as I tumble backwards, right into someone’s legs.

My gaze darts up to the face of the figure I’ve collided with to see Awol staring down at me. He raises an eyebrow before offering his free hand to help me up. I feel my face burn with embarrassment as I accept the offer and get myself off the ground. I pat the dirt off of my jeans before looking back up to his face, his eyes trained on the ground behind me.

“I’ve been trying to harvest the plants all morning,” I comment as he looks back to me with a small smile. “I uhm- It hasn’t been going well…”

He lets out a light laugh before holding up the leather bag he’s been carrying. He hands it to me so I can look through it, and I note that it’s full of all sorts of crafting and brewing resources.

“My day has been a bit more successful,” He comments, smirking, and I punch him in the shoulder playfully.

“Well no need to brag!” I snicker. “I feel like I should have been the one to grab the crafting materials.”

“In my defense, I didn’t know what you were going to get up to while I was gone,” He points out, holding his hands up in surrender.

I roll my eyes and close the bag again, brushing past him as I head for the backdoor to our house.

“These plants aren’t ready to get taken out of the ground, anyway. I picked up some food for you while I was out,” He adds, and I hold back my urge to yell at him.

I close the door behind me and quickly make my way through the kitchen to the hallway with our bedrooms. I pass by the yellow door that opens to Awol’s bedroom, and go through the (F/C) door that leads to mine. I open the bag and dump its contents onto my bed to sort through it properly.

A sheet of paper that falls out among the mess catches my attention, and I pick it up to look over it. The words “Required Resources” is scrawled across the top in bold, with many lines of the aforementioned resources listed below it. I note how there are lines through almost all of the materials, and a quick glance towards the pile on my bed tells me that Awol was just marking things off as he found them.

I lay it off to the side of my bed as I walk over to my chest to retrieve my backpack. I pull it out and observe its worn appearance - an indicator of how long I’ve had it, and that it’s well loved. I smile before opening it and tossing it towards my bed, which proves to be a mistake as it lands on my bedside table and knocks over a picture frame I had set there.

“Crap!” I yell in concern as I lunge forward to catch it.

I let out a sigh of relief as it lands in my hands, and I sit up before looking down at the picture. I see four faces smiling back at me through the glass. The (H/C) hair of the woman, and the (E/C) eyes of the man match one of the children standing in front of them - a giveaway that the pair of adults were their parents. I smile at the sight of my mother and father, and trail off in thought about them for a moment. I wonder how they’re doing in The Capital right now.

“(Y/N), do you think I could have that bag back?” I hear Awol ask, his loud voice carrying from the backdoor. “I was going to pack some extra resources!”

“Yeah, come inside and get it!” I yell back before standing up again.

I take another glance at the photo, now looking at the frail boy in the image. Even though his strawberry blonde hair has stayed the same (although it has gotten much longer) and his deep red eyes hold the same compassion, Awol has gotten much stronger, and might I add healthier, than when he was a child.

I turn around as my door opens, startled, to see Awol standing there readjusting his bun.

“Are you excited to see Steve and Alex later?” He questions, his eyes catching sight of the frame in my hands. “Oh! You’re reminiscing, then?”

“What- Why do you phrase things like that?” I jeer, placing the item back down on the table before I grab his bag and toss it in his direction. “Anyway, I was just thinking about my parents.”

“Mr. and Mrs. (L/N), such lovely people,” He sighs with a smile, “you should write them a letter soon, it’s been over a month.”

I panic at that last remark, and look out of my window in the direction of The Capitol that is far out of sight. It really has been a while since I’ve contacted them, they’re going to be mad once I write to them again.

“Don’t worry about them getting angry, I sent out a letter about a week ago since you won’t have time to before we head out for the frontlines,” He explains, immediately calming my frenzy.

“You’re always like five steps ahead of me Awol, how do you do that?”

“I’ve just known you long enough to understand that I have to look out for the both of us.”

“What- Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” I yelp as he leaves my room with a smile. “Awol, are you saying I’m incompetent?!”

All I get in return is a laugh as he continues to his bedroom. I pout and turn back to my things, deciding it better to pack away my resources than let his teasing get to me. I take a look at the clock hung up in an item frame above my bed, and notice that it’s getting late. It looks like I’ll need to hurry up, then.

***

“(Y/N) are you ready to head out? If we want any time with Steve and Alex before the march we need to go now!” Awol shouts from the front door.

“I know! Just give me a moment!” I yell back, scrambling to my chest for the last time.

I open it and swiftly take out eleven iron blocks, shoving them harshly into my bag before I shut the box again and rush down the hall. I see Awol waiting outside with his bag slung over his shoulder, watching something as I close the front door, and I turn around to see the sun hanging low in the sky.

“Sunsets are amazing, aren’t they?” He comments offhandedly. “Such lovely colors…”

I watch the clouds dance in front of the backdrop of oranges and pinks, the glowing orb of yellow in the center tying the image together perfectly.

“It is nice, isn’t it?” I add softly, and he looks at me with a small smile.

“We should go to the tavern,” He states, his finger now raised and pointed at something behind me, “the soldiers are starting to gather, which means we only have around two hours.”

I nod in agreement and get a better grip on my backpack before I take his hand in mine, allowing him to lead us to the tavern located in the more populated area of our village. The many soldiers that have come back to either visit their families or recover from injuries are scattered around the square, with the redstone lamps lighting up the area pleasantly as well as complimenting the moods of the people. The red and yellow colors of the imperial army are worn by each of these soldiers, and hung as flags on each building.

I turn my attention back to Awol as he holds open the doors to the tavern for me, and I am immediately hit with the reek of alcohol. I walk inside with him following behind closely, and I look around for the familiar faces of-

“Steve! Did you save us any seats?” Awol shouts over the blare of music and conversation.

“Awol! My favorite living block of iron, of course I saved seats for you and my bestie!” He yells back even louder, gaining some annoyed looks from the other patrons.

I rush over to the table he’s sitting at, two soldiers seated on the other side waving to me as greeting before going back to their own conversation. I hand my bag to my iron golem companion as Steve grabs my arm and pulls me down roughly into the seat beside him. Awol joins me to my right, setting our bags down as Steve grabs his glass of beer from the table beside us and takes a swig.

“I’ve been looking forward to seeing you all day!” He giggles as he moves his glass sporadically. “I’ve missed you~”

I cringe back slightly from the obvious stench of booze in his breath, indicating that he’s been drinking since long before I arrived. I offer a smile regardless, knowing that he’s always had a little bit of a drinking problem and this wasn’t anywhere near his worst.

“Steve, it’s lovely to see you too,” I comment while I make an attempt to get him to put his glass down before he gets beer everywhere. “I’ve missed your sense of humor, I couldn’t beer being without you.”

I see his eyes light up as he slams his drink on the table, beer spilling over onto the oak wood. I hear Awol let out a sigh behind me, and I laugh knowing that he’s already exhausted from what’s coming.

“Well ale be (Y/N)! I didn’t think we’d be bock to doing this so soon!”

“Oh Steve, you know you barley have a chance at winning this fight.”

“I stout you actually think that, you know I’ve barely even begun to scotch the surface!”

“Good lord those puns aren’t even good,” A voice chimes in from behind me.

I turn to see Awol hiding a grin behind his hand as Alex walks over with two glasses of water and a grimace on her face.

“I can’t believe I’m married to you,” She groans as he pouts and lurches forward.

“You just don’t know how to let loose!” He whines, and she rolls her eyes before turning her attention to me.

“I had a feeling you’d probably want something to drink,” She comments, causing Steve to swipe at the drinks in her hands. “I got you water so you’d be sober for the march later. We’re already going to have a few drunk soldiers before then.”

With her statement obviously aimed at Steve, he catches on and sits up straighter with a lazy grin on his face. She scoffs at his horrid attempt to convince her that he’s not that drunk. With a quick brush down of her uniform’s jacket, she pulls up a chair between Awol and I and sits herself down. I take one of the waters she has with a smile, and she returns the expression as she takes a sip of her own.

“So how’ve you two been, anyway? I know I haven’t seen you in at least two months, Alex,” Awol starts, causing the couple to look over to him.

“I’ve been as good as I can be stuck with this moron,” Alex sighs as Steve lets out a ‘Hey!’. “But, you know, I’ve also been working very hard on the frontlines. We’ve been making good progress gaining back some land that we’d lost.”

“Yes! We totally got back a huge chunk of land from the Creepers!” Steve interrupts, “Those fuckers are aggressive.”

“Language,” Alex sneers before turning to Awol and I again. “How’ve you two been around here, anyway? The village doing good?”

“Eh, same old,” I sigh, “only interesting thing is Awol’s garden at this point.”

“I’m glad you’re recognizing that my garden is interesting,” He laughs with a smile, “I’ve been working very hard on growing things so you have food.”

I catch sight of Steve’s palm as Awol says that, and see the number forty-seven scrawled across it in a glowing green. I take a chance to look at Alex’s palm, and see her number as sixty-eight.

“You two have been involved in a lot of combat, huh?” I comment, their eyes following my trail of sight to see what I’m talking about. “Your levels are really high.”

“Oh, yeah!” Steve shouts proudly, “I’ve been saving some up so I could enchant my sword again! I wanted to get my knockback to level two since it’s funny to see monsters go flying backwards!”

Alex rolls her eyes as Steve laughs at what he said, and she holds up her palm so I can get a better view of it.

“I’ve been working on saving my levels so I can make my bow more powerful,” She explains, pride clear in her voice. “I can already take out a group of mobs easily with it, but I want to get infinity on it so I don’t have to use up as many arrows.”

I nod at her statement and take a look at my own palm. My level is only at fifteen since I don’t get involved in combat, and other ways of gaining experience don’t give nearly as much.

“Hey, Steve, what’s it like going up against the mobs directly?” I ask, knowing that the man goes up directly against monsters.

“Oh! Uhm…” He starts before pausing to think, a bit caught off guard himself. “They’re really dangerous! Those bastards have all sorts of magic and shit they use against us. It’s really difficult to go up against them in a fight.”

I notice Alex watching him intensely from the rim of her glass before she puts it down to voice her own opinion.

“They are extremely adept opponents. They’re skilled in their own fields that we know next to nothing about, and they’re quite intelligent,” She adds. “I’d even say I respect them in a way if they could actually comprehend what they were doing. Instead they’re just mindlessly attacking us, and that downplays any sort of sentience that I could respect.”

I notice one of the men across from us looking over at Alex, making it apparent that he was listening in on our conversation. I place my cup down on the table and motion in his direction, gaining a confused look from my three friends.

“An ingot for your thoughts?” I ask him, and he seems surprised that I’ve decided to include him.

“Well, Jake and I have talked to some other folks stationed on the frontlines. There’ve been some rumors ‘bout humans with mob abilities,” He explains.

I quirk a brow at the news, and the others seem just as skeptical. Awol furrows his brows at the comment, while Steve hadn’t even heard it and Alex was staring blankly at the man.

“Yeah!” The other man, who I’d assume is Jake, adds. “I told Kyle that I thought it was mobs somehow mimicking us.”

“And I told you that was stupid!” Kyle seethes, “It’s way more likely that some people have found out how to use magic.”

They start to argue over their theories, while Alex scoffs and curls her hand into a fist, slamming it on the table to catch their attentions again. They both shut up and look over at her, fear clear in their expressions.

“That’s a ridiculous notion!” She hisses, “You soldiers are probably just spreading this nonsense around to entertain yourselves. It’s unacceptable. I don’t need these kinds of pointless rumors making their way back to the capitol, the King will certainly not be happy if he hears about it.”

I look over Alex’s face, an angry expression formed in place of her normally indifferent appearance. I take my water off the table and look over to Awol, his attention shifting to me as I motion my head to the main bar, and he seems to understand what I’m saying as he grabs our bags and stands up.

“(Y/N) and I will leave you two to sort this out, then,” He states as we turn and make our way to the empty stools at the counter.

I sit down and lean into my hand, a now bored expression on my face as I swish the water around in my glass. Awol lets out a sigh as he places our bags on the counter, earning us a glare from the barkeep who doesn’t have time to tell us off before he has to rush off to take care of another table.

“Do you think that there’s any truth to what that Jake guy was saying?” I ask him, and Awol shrugs.

“Mobs don’t seem to have that level of sentience, (Y/N). If they did, don’t you think more people would be talking about it?” He points out. “If they actually could think like us I’m sure they’d have tried communicating by now.”

“Yes, but you still don’t like hurting them anyway,” I criticize, and he looks away for a moment.

“That’s because they’re alive,” He states simply, “even if they can’t think like us they’re still living things.”

We both go silent after his comment, and I turn away to check in on Steve and Alex. I watch her take his mug away from him, the expression on her face and the way she’s moving her hand around telling me that she’s scolding him. He’s clearly too out of it to be processing her words, but he’s smiling up at her and nodding regardless. Steve’s always been a hopeless romantic when it comes to Alex, and she’s always had a soft spot for the big guy.

I see her crack a small grin as she slides her water to him, and he doesn’t waste a second before he chugs it. She’s clearly holding back a laugh at his actions as he leans back in his chair and whines about how flavorless water is.

“Did you remember the redstone dust?”

I turn around to see Awol thinking about something, and his eyes focus on my face as I look at him.

“Yes!” I announce, grabbing my bag from the counter.

I look through it and catch sight of the dust by some sticks I have packed. These needed to be packed because of the march tonight, as we use redstone torches to light our way instead of normal torches. This lets us light our way without drawing too much attention to ourselves.

I notice the iron blocks I packed and grab them out of my bag quickly, holding them out to Awol with a smile.

“I grabbed you some food, too!” I laugh, and he takes the small blocks from my hand with a shocked expression.

“I totally forgot about these,” He says awkwardly, “I guess you were ahead of the game today.”

I shove my bag back on the counter with a victorious smirk as he puts away what I gave him in his own bag. My attention shifts to someone behind me as I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I notice one of the two men from before standing there.

“Jake…?” I ask hesitantly.

“Yes!” He beams, “Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to ask about your iron golem here.”

Awol frowns at the comment. He’s always hated being referred to as belonging to someone. He’s his own person, and he knows he should be treated as such.

“Oh, you wanted to talk to my friend Awol?” I say, gaining a confused look from the man.

“That’s uh, what I said!” He says, taking a seat beside me. “I want to know more about how you’re able to look human.”

Caught off guard, Awol reels back before leaning his weight against the counter beside him.

“Well, all summoned creatures are able to take on a human appearance,” He explains, “I don’t know the exact science behind it, but I believe it has something to do with us being made by humans.”

“Alright, yeah,” Jake nods his head before leaning back on his seat. “But you’re still a mob. You’re recognized as one in pretty much every way, so why wouldn’t other mobs be able to take on human forms, too?”

I tense and stare at Jake, mouth agape. Wasn’t he supposed to stop discussing this? Alex isn’t going to be happy if she hears him going on about it.

“Once again, I’m a summoned creature. I’m not a monster,” Awol states coldly.

I flinch at his tone, but understand his feelings towards Jake’s comments. Awol has been working hard to be seen as more than a mob his whole life, and I sympathize with his want to be recognized as an equal to humanity.

“Eh, I guess you’re right,” Jake sighs, “my theory is that mobs are modded now.”

“Excuse me, what the hell does modded mean?” I ask, becoming increasingly confused with everything coming out of this man’s mouth.

“Oh my Notch, would you shut it about mods already?!”

I turn to see Kyle walking over with an angry expression, and he grabs his companion by the arm roughly.

“I’m sorry about him, Jake is an annoying conspiracy nut,” He explains, squeezing Jake’s arm before he starts speaking again. “He doesn’t know when to quit it.”

I hold back a laugh as Jake whines for Kyle to let him go, and Awol just sighs.

“It’s fine, but we’ll have to see you two some other time. The march is starting soon,” He states offhandedly.

This gets both of the men to quickly rush off in a panic, alerting other people in the tavern that it’s time to get a move on. I grab my bag and set it on my shoulder as I stand up, Awol doing the same with his bag, and we walk back over to the table with Steve and Alex. The latter greets us with a relieved sigh as she helps Steve stand up.

“Thank Notch you two are here,” She relays, “I need the both of you to look after this idiot during the march. I have to lead it and I don’t want him getting into any trouble.”

“Alright, we can do that,” I say, and I feel a nudge in my side as I turn to see Awol holding his bag out to me.

“If you don’t mind carrying this, I’ll carry Steve,” He offers, and I shrug as I take his bag. I’ve got two shoulders for a reason.

He hauls the tank of a man onto his back with a grunt, and steadies himself before nodding to Alex and I. Alex rushes off to most likely meet up with the soldiers and get the march arranged, while Awol, Steve and I make our way out of the tavern.

Steve mutters incoherent nonsense as we walk, and Awol and I just listen to him drone on in silence. The sky is now completely dark, signifying that we need to march now so we can have the cover of darkness. I glance around the square, once lively and joyful, and now devoid of most life as people have either gone home or are meeting up for the march.

I move my bag down my arm as we arrive where everyone else is, the vibrant colors of red and yellow on the imperial uniforms being shed as people store them away for the walk. I grab the materials I need for a redstone torch and move my bag back up my arm. With resources in hand, I crouch down and scribble out a 2 x 2 square before placing down the stick and redstone accordingly. They hover for a moment and move together to form a redstone torch which I quickly pick up.

I stand up again and move my boot around in the dirt to smooth it over again. I hold up the torch to show Awol, and he nods in approval as we watch Alex stand before the disorganized crowd of people.

“Alright, I want this to be a quick and efficient march. That means no screwing around, this is serious business,” She announces to the crowd, the hushed conversations scattered about ending quickly. “Everyone get in line, we’re going now!”

I look over to Awol, Steve sleeping on his back now, and he smiles before marching forward. I quickly follow behind him with the lightsource held out in front of us, and I look over the oak forest that we’re now entering.

“Are you ready to help out in the medbay?” Awol asks me quietly.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I sigh, “it’s always nice to do what I can to help out, even if it’s just giving out health and regeneration potions.”

“Handling the potions is important, you know,” He states, “Humans really need those if they want to get back into battle faster.”

I hum in response as we continue our walk, the light wind carrying a few hushed conversations going on. I look back to check on Steve, only to see him waking up. He beams when he sees me and lets out a laugh that I quickly have to silence.

“Steve, we’re on the march, okay? Just go back to sleep for now,” I mutter.

“I wanna get down, (Y/N),” He complains loudly, earning some dirty looks from other soldiers. “I don’t want the scrap metal carrying me!”

I flick his forehead in response to his complaints and he huffs before he quiets down and looks forward. I focus on walking as Steve annoys Awol by squirming in his grasp, which Awol swiftly puts a stop to by bumping into a tree.

I laugh lightly, knowing that those two have always had a weird relationship with each other.

“(Y/N), he should carry the bags, I wanna walk!” Steve whines in a hushed tone.

“I’ve got the bags, dummy.”

“Well then he can carry you and the bags!”

I shake my head at his suggestion, not wanting to talk to him anymore about the topic. If he got down he’d be stumbling all over the place anyway, and there’s no way I’d let him do that. I don’t need him getting hurt.

I glance forward again, unable to see Alex leading the march. The sky is still dark, which tells me that we’ve still got a long night ahead of us. I frown and readjust the bags on my shoulders, which are already starting to weigh down and hurt my arms. I can already tell that my legs are going to be killing me soon as well.

I take a look at Awol. He’s now effortlessly holding Steve over his shoulder now so he doesn't have to deal with the man’s nonsense. My focus flits to his free arm, and I look away again.

Getting carried doesn’t seem like such a bad idea anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you go. The beginning of the journey. I am so excited to write more! I wanted to go over who some game mechanics would be like in this more realistic world, so I hope y'all like the way levels and crafting work. The little 2 x 2 square for crafting in the dirt is like the crafting in your inventory, so bigger objects still have to be crafted on tables. I also wanted to make it so blocks and stuff were smaller when they were being stored away or transferred between people. I hope it's not all too confusing!

**Author's Note:**

> Minecraft belongs to Mojang.  
> I'm trying to stay motivated to write this story, so the update schedule will be all over the place. Believe me, I will be trying to write this because I think it'll be really fun. I hope to make characters y'all can like, so feel free to choose a favorite once more are introduced :)


End file.
